Dionysius I of Syracuse

Dionysius I of Syracuse (432 BC-367 BC) was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse from 405 BC to 367 BC, preceding Dionysius II of Syracuse. Cruel, suspicious, and vindictive, he was seen as an example of the worst kind of despot, but he conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, making his state the most powerful colony in Magna Graecia.

Biography
Dionysius worked as a clerk in a public office before serving in the Syracusan army during the 409 BC war against Carthage. He was elected supreme military commander in 406 BC, and he used this position of power to seize total power and become tyrant a year later; he staged a false attack on his own life to justify his coup. Dionysius established friendly relations with Sparta and used mercenaries to maintain his rule. From 397 to 392 BC, he launched a failed attempt to drive the Carthaginians from Sicily, but he succeeded in conquering Rhegion in 386 BC, selling its inhabitants into slavery. Dionysius also devastated the territories of Croton and Thurii in an attempt to defend Locri, the homeland of his wife Doris of Locri. He founded the cities of Ancona, Adria, and Issa on the Adriatic Sea to facilitate trade, and he sent mercenaries and ships to assist Sparta during the Corinthian War. In 385 BC, he attempted to assist Alcetas I of Epirus with regaining his throne, ravaging the region, slaying 15,000 Molossians, and restoring Alcetas to his throne. Dionysius' play "The Ransom of Hector" won a prize at a festival in Athens in 367 BC, and he was so elated that he drank himself to death.